Oprah, My Oprah! How I Will Miss Thee!

Sigh. Today marks the final episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” I’m used to being gruff and opinionated and brash and witchy with a “B.” But when it comes to my O, I can be none of those. Yes, I am an Oprah-file. I love her show, her style, her sensibility, her honesty. She has done so much for so many.

Forget about the trips to Australia. Forget about the audience getting cars. Forget about her favorite things. At her core, Oprah Winfrey has been a teacher. She has taught us important lessons in life. She taught us to be true to ourselves. She has schooled millions with her show and literally schooled more than 64,000 by paying for their educations with her Angel network. Sitting in the audience at the United Center for Oprah’s third and second to last shows and watching video montage after video montage, I realized just what an influence she has had in the lives of millions.

Everyone knows Oprah is a billionaire. Everyone knows she is the most powerful woman in media. But when you watch her show, Oprah is your neighbor, your teacher, your mentor, your shrink, your friend. My friend is moving. Instead of seeing her everyday, I will only see her once a week and on a channel that I have to look up b/c I have no clue where to find it on my cable (Channel 220, I think).

Oprah has two sayings that I love. The first is “Follow your passion. Do what you love and the money will follow.” The other is, “God can dream a bigger dream for you than you could ever dream for yourself.” I believe both sayings are right on the mark. Now if I could only figure out how to make money from this sassy blog, I would be golden. Golden, I tell you.

While I am sad Oprah is leaving, I am also very happy she is leaving b/c I wouldn’t have a job if she were not. I would not be working for “Windy City LIVE” in Chicago and I would not have the opportunity to bring my franklyHANK blog to life on the small screen.

So Oprah, while your show is ending, you will live on in OWN. I will watch “Season 25: Behind The Scenes” to get my Oprah fix. I will watch “Oprah: The Next Chapter.” I will watch “Oprah Encore” and I will continue reading my O! Magazine. Yeah, I read it. So what?

Farewell, O! Your door is closing, but the Windy City LIVE door is opening. And I couldn’t be more excited.